The author deals with the theme of vanitas from an interesting and singular vertex, that of the theater actor who finds himself confronted daily with two aspects of the subject dealt with: the urge to perform and the relationship between character and person. The narrative style is the intimate one of the actor / writer who, by removing the mask, tries to outline the reasons that, in his opinion, push a person to do this job until assuming that at the base there is an ancient wounKeywords: Actor, mask, exhibition, wound.